S H Kelkar pips IndiGo in grey market activity

The Rs 3,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) of InterGlobe Aviation might be the most talked about issue in town but little-known fragrance maker S H Kelkar's Rs 500-crore offering is seeing greater demand in the grey market. Shares of InterGlobe, the company that owns IndiGo, are getting a premium of less than Rs 10 a share, or 1.3 per cent to the top-end of the price band, while those of Kelkar are getting a premium of around Rs 20, or 11 per cent to the top-end of the band in the unofficial market. Both IPOs open next week.

Sebi ups vigil on commodity stocks

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has raised the vigil on several commodity stocks, including KRBL, Shree Renuka Sugars, Ruchi Soya and Balrampur Chini. The increase in surveillance comes amid a huge spike in trading activity in these counters after the rise in prices of select commodities. Sugar and rice companies have seen a sharp jump in their stock prices over the past month. Sebi, which recently became regulator of the commodity futures market , wants to avoid any spillover of speculative trading to the stock market. Chana and soybean are witnessing speculative trades in the commodity futures trading, said players.

Fund managers cautious on index predictions

A standard question fund managers are asked during Diwali time is the target they are setting for next Diwali. This year, they seem a little wary of this question. Recently, when three leading fund managers were asked about their targets for the Sensex and the Nifty in different forums, the reply was similar. While they believe things could be better, they would rather bet on individual stocks than the index. "There is no point giving the index target. The focus has to be in finding alpha ideas, rather than trying to exactly predict the market level a year from now," said one.